Do You Hear What I Hear?
by Dani-Ellie03
Summary: Paige asks what each of the sisters would want for Christmas if they could have anything they wanted, but what the magic of the season has in store for them, none of them would have guessed.
1. Christmas Eve

Author's note: This story will have one more chapter: Christmas Day. I took a lot of creative license here because we don't know all that much about Paige's past or if the sisters even celebrate Christmas still. But either way, I thought a holiday story would be fun to write. I just hope it's fun for y'all to read ;)  
  
**********  
  
Paige shifted position on the floor, leaning back against the sofa and gazing at the ribbons, bows, and scraps of paper around her, then let out a dreamy sigh. The parlor was lit with the soft white glow of the Christmas tree, which was standing in front of the picture window, as well as with the flickering warm light of a few peppermint scented candles. She piled the packages she had already wrapped next to her, pushing some scraps of wrapping paper out of her way, and smiled. She loved the early evening hours of Christmas Eve. It was lazy and quiet without being completely silent like it got as the night wore on. The silence frightened her a little, but the laziness and the calm were relaxing. And the one thing she loved more than the general atmosphere of Christmas Eve was wrapping her gifts by Christmas tree light.  
  
She picked up the set of sweet-smelling lotions and candles she had bought for Piper and placed it gently into a tall gift box. As she taped the box closed, she thought back to earlier that evening. Her sisters had invited her to dinner with them, but she had begged off, explaining that she still had to wrap some presents. Piper had laughed, shaking her head, and asked if she always did things at the last minute. Paige had giggled and answered in the affirmative, but what she had been reluctant to tell Piper was that waiting until Christmas Eve to wrap presents was an old family tradition.  
  
It was something her mother had started with her the first year she was old enough to buy her own presents for her parents. If she remembered right, she was in about second or third grade. The elementary school had set up a small school store which would sell little things like stationery sets, keychains, and magnets for a few cents each. She hadn't known how to wrap presents, so her mother sat her down in front of the tree on Christmas Eve, just before she was to be put to bed, and taught her how in a few minutes. As soon as the presents were wrapped, she had set them under the tree and was tucked in by both her parents. After no more than a few minutes, she had drifted off, swearing up and down that she heard sleigh bells and hoofbeats on the roof.  
  
Every year after that, she'd always wrap her presents in front of the tree on Christmas Eve right before she went to bed. The only year she hadn't done it was the Christmas after the car accident. She had had every intention of it, but when she sat down to wrap the presents for her friends, she found the watch she had bought for her father and the glass tree ornament she had bought for her mother. Almost at once, she became so angry and upset over everything that had happened that she threw them both across the room. She didn't remember much else about that night except for the shattering sound the ornament made as its box hit the wall.  
  
When she had first found out about her destiny, about who she really was, she had wondered what would happen to her holidays. Did witches celebrate Christmas? They couldn't, could they? She had been quite worried because not celebrating Christmas would have been a huge change for her. Christmas was her mother's favorite holiday, and Paige had grown up in one of those neighborhoods where every house on the block went all out with the decorations. People would come from all over the city and even from the suburbs just to drive down the streets and admire the lights. The decorations in her house would go up the day after Thanksgiving and wouldn't come down until January 6, Little Christmas. Last year, though, when Piper had pulled the Christmas decorations out of the basement the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Paige had let out an audible sigh of relief. She wasn't sure if the holiday still held any religious significance for her sisters, or even for her, but it held a familial, traditional significance for all of them, and she supposed that was reason enough to continue celebrating it.  
  
At the sound of the key turning the lock on the front door, she jumped, shaking herself out of her reverie, and quickly looked around at her presents. Piper's was the only one still unwrapped, but that was in its box. She sighed in relief, happy that none of her surprises were about to be ruined, and ran out to the foyer to meet her sisters. Phoebe burst through the door first, giggling and shivering. "How was dinner?" Paige asked, laughing as Piper followed Phoebe in, rolling her eyes behind her sister's back.  
  
"It was great!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Delicious. You should have come."  
  
"I told you, I had to wrap presents," Paige replied, heading back to the parlor. "I just have to finish wrapping Piper's, but it's in a box so you guys can't see what it is anyway. Come on in."  
  
Piper and Phoebe hung up their coats and followed Paige into the parlor. "Ooh, it smells so pretty in here," Piper said as she sat down in the chair.  
  
"It's 'cause of my peppermint candles," Paige said, smiling. "I like them because they're not overpowering. It's just a nice soft scent."  
  
"Yeah, it is," Phoebe said, nodding in agreement as she settled in one corner of the couch. The sisters sat in silence, Piper and Phoebe just staring at the tree, lost in their own thoughts, and Paige putting the finishing touches on Piper's gift. Finally, she ran the ribbon between the scissors' edge and her thumb slowly, giving it a slight yet still bouncy curl. After giving it a once over to make sure everything came out the way she wanted it to, she set all of her presents under the tree and settled onto the sofa with Phoebe. "Those came out really nice, Paige," Phoebe said, breaking the silence. "I don't even want to open them now. They're too pretty."  
  
Paige giggled. "Thanks." As the sisters fell silent again, Paige couldn't help but think about the relationship she had with them. She had been living with them for over a year, they depended on each other for their survival, yet in spite of all that, in some ways they were still like strangers. She was their sister by blood and most of the time, she felt like their sister in practice. But it was times like this that reminded her that they weren't really sisters in the truest sense of the word. They had different childhoods, different pasts, different experiences and traditions. She had no idea how her sisters spent their Christmases as children, just as they had no idea how she had spent hers. She cleared her throat, figuring now was as good a time as any to get to know some of the little things she didn't know. "Hey, guys, what's your favorite Christmas song?"  
  
"'Sleigh Ride'," Phoebe answered with a faraway smile.  
  
"That's not a Christmas song," Piper said, shaking her head. The lights from the tree were making her eyes sparkle.  
  
"Sure it is!" Phoebe exclaimed.  
  
"It's more of a winter song," Paige said softly, backing Piper. Piper shot her a grateful smile.  
  
"Wait, what was that song Grams used to have playing on the radio like, all day long?"  
  
"It was 'Sleigh Ride'," Piper said.  
  
"No, the other one."  
  
Piper had to stop to think. For some reason, the detail had slipped her mind. She hated when things like that happened. It meant she was forgetting, and she didn't want to forget. "'Good King Wenceslas'," she answered after a moment.  
  
"Then, that one," she said, laughing. "That's a Christmas song, right?"  
  
"Yes," Paige answered with a giggle. "What's yours, Piper?"  
  
"'Do You Hear What I Hear?'" she said. Paige could tell, even under the soft light provided by the Christmas tree, that Piper was blushing.  
  
"Oh, please!" Phoebe exclaimed, chuckling. "That's only your favorite song because you got to sing it solo one year."  
  
"Whoa, back up a second," Paige interrupted, completely amazed. "You got to sing a solo? Like, in front of people?"  
  
"It was in chorus in elementary school," Phoebe laughed. "You were in what, fifth grade?"  
  
"Fourth," Piper answered, shaking her head. "It had to be fourth because I remember that Prue was still in the school. She was in sixth. She threatened to beat up Stacy Clark because Stacy kept making fun of me 'cause she wanted my part in the song. Plus, it wasn't a total solo. Leanne Taylor split it with me."  
  
"Wait, Prue threatened to beat someone up?" Paige asked, grinning.  
  
"She was very protective of us," Piper said with a sad smile. "Stacy thought that if she made fun of me enough, I'd drop the solo and she could take it. I wasn't exactly the most outgoing person at all, so her plan would have worked, and Prue knew it. Prue pretty much told her to leave me alone or she'd beat her up."  
  
Phoebe chuckled. "You never told me that! She would have, too."  
  
"Yes, she would have," Piper said, giggling. "What's your favorite Christmas song, Paige?"  
  
"Well, I have two. Traditionally, I like 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen'. I think it's pretty. And there's this song that was done by a little kid in like, the 1950s called 'I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas'. I love it because it's just so cute."  
  
"It sounds cute," Piper said with a kind smile.  
  
The sisters fell silent again. Paige leaned her head against the back of the couch, gazing up at the tree. The angel on the top of their tree reminded Paige a lot of the one her parents used to put on the top of their tree. Paige had named that angel Lucinda, Lucy for short, when she was in fourth grade. She was pretty sure that the angel was still packed away at her aunt's house. All the things they hadn't been able to sell had gone into storage in her aunt's attic, and even though she had taken a bunch of the ornaments back when she got her own apartment, she had never been able to bring herself to put up that angel again. "Okay, new question," she said, clearing her throat again. "If you could have one thing for Christmas, whether or not it's actually possible, what would it be?"  
  
"A white Christmas," Phoebe said with a grin. "I've always wanted to see a white Christmas. I didn't even see snow when I was in New York."  
  
"You were in New York over a summer," Piper reminded her. "Of course you didn't see snow."  
  
"That's my point, Piper," Phoebe said, rolling her eyes. "I've never ever seen a white Christmas, and I think it would be nice to have a Christmas with light snow falling. What would you want, Paige?"  
  
Paige smiled. She didn't even have to think about what she wanted. "One more Christmas with my parents," she answered softly. "The last one we had . . . I mean, it was nice, but it wasn't great. And it never occurred to me at the time to try to make it special because I might not get another one."  
  
Phoebe pushed a little closer to Paige, wrapped her arm around her, and rested her head on her sister's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, sweetie."  
  
"Don't be. It's not your fault," Paige said, giggling. "What about you, Piper?"  
  
"What I want I can't have," she answered quietly.  
  
"Piper, that's the whole point of the exercise," Paige replied, smiling gently. "It's not like Phoebe and I can get what we want. If you could have anything, physical and supernatural laws suspended, what would it be?"  
  
Piper sighed, breaking her gaze with Paige, and stared up at the tree. "A chance to hug Prue again." She smiled sadly, remembering how much Prue loved Christmas. She turned her head, locking eyes with Phoebe. "We fought the night before she died, you know."  
  
Phoebe sat up straight. This was something she'd never heard before. "What?"  
  
Piper nodded. "I don't even remember what it was about," she said, trying not to let on how choked up she was. "I just remember that we went to bed angry with each other. And then the next day, everything happened so fast I never got a chance to . . . Shax attacked and I saw her go flying through the wall. I went to go check on her and the next thing I remember is waking up with Leo hovering over me. He had tears in his eyes and at first, I thought he was just upset over the attack, but then I looked over at her. She was just lying there, Phoebe, and when I grabbed her hand, she didn't even flinch . . ." She trailed off, allowing a couple of tears to slide down her cheeks.  
  
Paige was up in a flash, squeezing in next to Piper and giving her a tight hug. "Shh, it's okay. What were you telling me last year when I was going through this? She knows you love her, she knows you didn't mean anything you said to her during the fight."  
  
"I know," Piper said, nodding as she swallowed some more tears. "I just . . . I wish I could see her, even if it's only for a moment. I just want to hug her one last time."  
  
"I know exactly how you feel," Paige said, gently letting Piper go.  
  
Paige made a move to stand up, but Piper grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "No, you can stay."  
  
Paige smiled, leaning back in the chair as Piper scooted over to make a little more room for her. The sisters once again sat in silence. Phoebe stood up, turned on the radio, and stuck a CD into the stereo. Pretty soon, soft instrumental Christmas music filtered through the speakers as Phoebe sat back down on the sofa, allowing the music to gently lull her. "What's your favorite holiday memory?"  
  
"The year Grams took us down that street to see all the lights on Christmas Eve," Piper answered with a warm smile.  
  
Paige started and bolt upright. "What?"  
  
Piper gazed at her curiously, surprised at the tone of her voice. "You know those neighborhoods where all the houses decorate a lot?"  
  
"Yeah. Do you remember what street you went down?"  
  
"Archibald Ave? I think that's what it was." She looked over to Phoebe for confirmation. Phoebe nodded.  
  
"I grew up on Archibald Ave!" Paige exclaimed, grinning.  
  
"Really?" Phoebe asked excitedly. "What house was yours?"  
  
"The one with the angel choir on one side of the yard and the big nativity scene on the other."  
  
"I loved that house!" Piper said, wrapping her arm around Paige's shoulders. "That was yours?"  
  
Paige nodded with another wide grin. "Yup! What was your favorite moment, Phoebe?"  
  
"I was thinking of the same night Piper was. What about you?"  
  
"This one year, I think I was in fifth grade, all I wanted was a dollhouse," Paige explained. Already, she was getting a dreamy look in her eyes. "That's all I put on my Christmas list. I wanted a house just like this one, an old Victorian mansion. But my mom told me she couldn't afford it. Dollhouse kits were expensive, plus they would have to buy floor coverings, wallpaper, and paint, not to mention furniture and accessories. None of that stuff is cheap. I had pretty much given up on the dollhouse, but I still wanted it desperately. On Christmas morning, I opened all but one of my presents, and just as I suspected, there was no sign of dollhouse anything. The last present I opened was a porcelain dollhouse family, dressed in Victorian clothes. Then my dad told me to look behind the chair in the corner. There, behind the chair, was my dollhouse, rugs, wallpaper, and all. And what was so special wasn't the dollhouse--"  
  
"It was the surprise," Piper finished. Paige nodded, once again leaning back in the chair. They all quieted down and just listened to the music. Paige closed her eyes, allowing the music and the soft peppermint scent relax her. After what seemed to Paige like only a few minutes, Piper nudged her. "Why don't you go on up to bed, hon. You've been dozing for half an hour."  
  
"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed through a yawn.  
  
"It's okay," Piper said, chuckling. "Go on. We'll be up in a few anyway."  
  
"Okay." Paige stood up and stretched a little. "Night, guys. Merry Christmas Eve."  
  
"Same to you," Phoebe said with a giggle.  
  
"Night, Paige," Piper replied, smiling.  
  
Paige grinned and headed up to her room. As she climbed the stairs, running her hand gently over the banister, she couldn't help but think that the night had been something of a breakthrough. She and her sisters had spent the night talking, laughing, and consoling each other. For a while, Paige had been able to forget that they hadn't grown up together. It was like they were truly a real family, in every sense of the term. 


	2. Christmas Day

Author's note: This came out a tad longer than I expected, hee. And in answer to a question posted in the reviews, yes, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" is a real song. My mom has it on one of her Christmas CDs. I'm pretty sure Gayla Peevey sings it, and it you can find it, I really recommend it. It's adorable. ;)  
  
**********  
  
Piper awoke to find herself shivering. She pulled the comforter up around her shoulders and huddled under the covers, trying to warm herself up. Why is it so cold in my room? she thought as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. After a few minutes, it became obvious that her teeth weren't going to stop chattering, so she climbed out of bed, tying her bathrobe around her waist. As she headed out of her room on her way downstairs, she managed to catch the clock out of the corner of her eye. It was only a little before seven, way too early for her sisters to be awake. It was technically too early for her to be awake, but she was too cold to even attempt to go back to sleep. As she quietly crept downstairs, she felt a tiny twinge of guilt. She had promised Phoebe that she wouldn't go downstairs without her. It was something they had done every Christmas morning ever since Piper could remember. The entire family waited until everyone was up, and they all went down together. But it was so cold that she at least wanted to check the thermostat. There had to be a reason why it was so cold in the house.  
  
"Oh, no wonder it's so cold!" she grumbled as she turned up the heat. According to the thermostat, it was only fifty degrees in the house. As soon as she heard the heat turn on, she headed into the kitchen, intent on making a pot of coffee. Before turning on the coffee maker, she opened the blinds in the kitchen. The second she glanced out the window, her jaw dropped. What she saw wasn't possible. How could this be happening?  
  
Excitedly, she raced back up the stairs, not caring if she made a lot of noise. Her sisters had to see this. Something like this came along once in a lifetime and she couldn't be sure if it would still be there in a couple of hours. She whipped Phoebe's door open and switched on her sister's bedside lamp. "Phoebe, wake up! Get up and look out the window."  
  
"Piper?" Phoebe asked groggily. "What's going on? Why is it so cold in here?"  
  
"Just come here and look out the window." She grabbed Phoebe's arm and tugged, trying to pull her out of bed. After a bit of fighting, Phoebe got out of bed and allowed Piper to drag her to the window. "Look at this," Piper said as she pulled up the shade.  
  
"Oh my God," Phoebe whispered, her jaw dropping. "It's snowing!" The ground was covered with a light dusting of fluffy white snow and thick white flakes were still falling from the sky. The snow had to have been a wet snow because it was sticking to the trees and the rooftops, covering them with a thin white layer. "Piper, this looks like something off a postcard. This is impossible."  
  
"Obviously not," Piper said softly. "Looks like your Christmas wish was something you could get after all."  
  
Phoebe looked over at her sister and was surprised to see tears in Piper's eyes. Suddenly, she understood what was upsetting her. "Oh, honey." She wrapped her arm around Piper's shoulders and squeezed. Piper wanted her Christmas wish to come true so badly and seeing someone else get their wish had to be more than a little disappointing. "You could still get your wish, you know."  
  
"How?"  
  
She winced at the hopelessness in her sister's voice. "Magic?" After a moment, Piper smiled. Phoebe smiled back and brushed Piper's hair out of her eyes. "Is Paige awake yet?"  
  
"I don't think so," Piper answered with a shrug. "We could go peek in on her and see for sure."  
  
As she and Phoebe tiptoed to Paige's room, Piper was reminded of all those years when they would wake Prue up at five or six on Christmas morning. She'd be angry at first, annoyed at being shaken out of a sound sleep by her two little sisters, but after a couple of minutes, she'd be right by their side when they went into their grandmother's room.  
  
They quietly approached Paige's bedroom door. Piper put her finger to her lips as she slowly opened the door and peeked in. Paige was still sound asleep, curled up under the covers. Piper pulled the door closed and tiptoed away a little bit. "She's out cold."  
  
"So let's wake her up," Phoebe whispered.  
  
"Phoebe! It's like, seven o'clock in the morning."  
  
"Yeah, Christmas morning," Phoebe reminded her. "She's not going to care if it's Christmas morning. And if she's really that tired, she can take a nap later."  
  
Piper sighed. "What are you, like, three? You want to rush downstairs?" Phoebe just grinned. "Okay, okay, fine," she said in resignation. "But if she gets mad, I'm blaming it all on you."  
  
Phoebe giggled. "I'm okay with that." Piper rolled her eyes as she opened the bedroom door again. "Paige," Phoebe called, her voice verging on singsong. "It's time to get up."  
  
Paige moaned and pulled the covers over her head. Piper and Phoebe exchanged a mischievous grin, raising their eyebrows at each other. Piper then walked into the room and sat down on the bed, pulling the comforter off Paige's face. "Paige, wake up," she said gently.  
  
"What do you guys want?" she mumbled without opening her eyes. "It's like, way early."  
  
"Paige, it's Christmas!" Phoebe exclaimed. She ran into the room and flounced onto the bed, causing it to bounce up and down. "You have to get up so we can go open presents!"  
  
Paige smiled in spite of herself. She had never had siblings to wake her on Christmas morning and, though it was obnoxious, it made her feel like part of the family. She turned onto her back and stretched, finally forcing her eyes open. "Merry Christmas," she murmured.  
  
"Merry Christmas to you, too," Piper said, smiling. "When you wake up a bit, you should look out the window."  
  
"Will that explain why it's so cold in here?"  
  
Piper nodded, grinning. "I did turn the heat up--"  
  
"You went downstairs?" Phoebe asked, a pout on her face.  
  
"Phoebe, I had to turn up the heat," Piper said, rolling her eyes. "You would have rathered I let us freeze to death?"  
  
Paige giggled, kicked the covers off, and ran over to the window. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed when she saw the snow. "You guys, this is impossible. It's like . . . I don't know, a miracle or something!"  
  
"A Christmas miracle," Phoebe said softly.  
  
Paige smiled, ran her fingers through her hair to calm her tangles, and turned away from the window. "All right, you two got me up at the crack of dawn to open presents, so let's go downstairs and open presents."  
  
Phoebe grinned and grabbed Paige's hand, tugging her out of the room. The sisters bounded down the stairs and headed into the parlor. After plugging in the tree, Piper turned to her sisters and smiled. "Okay, you two sit and get comfortable. I'm going to make some coffee and hot chocolate."  
  
She headed into the kitchen, put a kettle of water on the stove to boil, and started the coffee machine. Sighing, she leaned back against the counter and ran her hand over her face. The holidays were rough for her. She missed her sister so much, and it was so much harder at Christmas. Christmas was Prue's favorite holiday. She loved decorating the Manor and she loved seeing other people's houses all lit up even more. Without Prue, Christmas was a little empty. It just reminded her that she and her sister would never be able to talk to each other again. Some days, all she wanted to do was just say hello to her. All she wanted was to hear her voice one more time.  
  
"Piper, are you okay?"  
  
Piper started and looked up. It couldn't be, could it? Paige was standing in the doorway, gazing at her with a concerned expression. Piper could only hope that Paige hadn't seen her face fall. "Yeah," she answered, clearing her throat.  
  
Paige nodded in a way that let Piper know she didn't quite believe her and walked up to the stove. "Okay." She began pouring the water from the kettle, which was steaming, into coffee mugs. As she opened a couple packets of Swiss Miss, she looked over at Piper. "It's okay to miss her, you know. I always miss my parents more around the holidays."  
  
"She loved Christmas," Piper said, her voice breaking.  
  
Paige quickly wrapped Piper in a hug. After a moment, Piper hugged her back tightly. She cried into Paige's shoulder for a couple of minutes before pulling away. "I miss her so much," she said, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "I thought it would get easier as time went on."  
  
"It does," Paige answered, gently slinging her arm around Piper's shoulders, "but this time of year, it's like two steps forward, one step back. We're reminded everywhere we go that we should be thinking of family, and it's hard not to think about who we've lost."  
  
"Does the sting ever go away?" She looked into Paige's eyes, hoping that she could provide her with an answer. It was amazing how much she had come to confide in Paige. She hated to admit it, but at first, she had resented Paige. She felt like she was trying to replace Prue, and she was now ashamed of how poorly she treated her when they first met her. But even through all that, Paige hadn't given up on her. She just quietly stuck by her until she was ready.  
  
"It hasn't really gone away for me yet, but each year it hurts a little less." She smiled and tightened her grip on her sister's shoulders. "It'll get easier. It's just going to take some time, and that's perfectly okay."  
  
"Thanks," she said, smiling gratefully. "I'm sorry for dumping this all on you, especially on Christmas."  
  
"Piper, you're not dumping," Paige said gently. "This is what sisters do for each other. Especially on Christmas."  
  
Piper smiled another thank you and set the hot chocolate and a couple of cups of coffee on the tray. "Come on. Phoebe's probably wondering where we are."  
  
"Want me to carry that?" Paige asked, eyeing the tray. Piper's hands were still shaky from crying and the last thing she needed was to be cleaning up hot liquids from the floor.  
  
"Sure," Piper said with a shrug. She led the way back to the parlor as Paige followed her with the tray in hand. Settling in front of the tree to distribute the presents, she waited until Paige was seated and comfortable before speaking up. "Okay, how are we doing this? Reverse birth order?"  
  
Phoebe glanced at Paige and smiled, figuring that Piper suggested reverse birth order to make Paige feel included. "Fine with me. Hand her mine first."  
  
Despite Paige's unwrapping the presents very carefully to make it last a little longer, the whole process was over in a matter of minutes. Phoebe's present to Paige was a glass suncatcher kit. It had both premade ones that she could paint and the supplies to make her own from scratch. Piper had given Paige some new paints and brushes, which she desperately needed. Paige and Piper had each bought Phoebe a good-sized crystal teddy bear. It was a set of two bears that Phoebe had seen in the mall one day and she had quickly fallen in love with it. Paige gave Piper the aromatherapy lotion set first, and when she opened the gift certificate for two massages at the gym that Phoebe had given her, she started giggling. "Are you two trying to tell me that I'm uptight?"  
  
"No. 'Wound up' is the phrase I think I used," Paige grinned.  
  
Piper playfully threw a wad of wrapping paper at Paige. Things calmed down a little, and Piper once again found herself thinking about Prue. Oh, Prue, I miss you so much, she thought.  
  
"Oh, honey, I miss you, too."  
  
Piper gasped and looked up at her sisters. "You guys heard that, right? I'm not going crazy, am I?"  
  
Paige looked confused at first, but after a moment, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. When Piper looked at Phoebe, she saw that she had the same look of surprise and wonderment on her face. "Piper, turn around," Paige said, finally finding her voice.  
  
Piper did as she was told and had to do a double-take. She scrambled to her feet and took a tentative step forward, unsure if she should believe her own eyes. What she saw was even more impossible than Phoebe's white Christmas. Yet, like Phoebe's white Christmas, it was standing right in front of her. "P-Prue?"  
  
"Merry Christmas," she answered, a wide grin on her face. She held both arms out in front of her, welcoming Piper into an embrace.  
  
Piper ran forward into her sister's arms, tears slipping down her cheeks. She half-expected to wind up hugging nothing but air, but when she felt her sister's arms wrap tightly around her, she collapsed against Prue. "Oh my God, I can't believe this."  
  
"Believe it," Prue whispered. After a couple of minutes, Piper heard Phoebe get up off the couch and join the hug. "Oh, I missed you guys like crazy."  
  
"You have no idea," Phoebe said, her voice cracking as she started crying.  
  
Prue held them a moment longer, gave them both a kiss on the cheek, and then pulled out of the hug. Piper sniffled and followed Prue's gaze to Paige, who was standing up in front of the chair, anxiously shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Prue stepped between Piper and Phoebe and walked up to Paige, smiling gently. "I'm so glad I can finally meet you."  
  
"Me too," Paige said a little nervously. "I mean, I'm glad I can finally meet you, too."  
  
Prue smiled, a little unsure how to act with her. She wanted to give her a hug, but she also didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She didn't want to push Paige into something she wasn't ready for, but she also didn't want to make it seem like she was ignoring her. "I, uh, I want to hug you, but if you don't want me to--"  
  
Paige grinned and hugged Prue first. Piper smiled, wiping tears from her eyes as she watched her two sisters finally start to get to know each other. She wanted desperately to know how all this had happened, but she was afraid that questioning it would somehow cause it to disappear.  
  
Phoebe, apparently, shared the curiosity, but not the fear. "Prue, how is this possible?" she asked.  
  
Prue smiled and turned to Piper and Phoebe. "Well, you made a Christmas wish, right?"  
  
"Yeah, but--"  
  
"The Elders heard," she interrupted, grinning. "And They wanted to do something special to thank you for continuing with your destiny even though you didn't have to. You could have easily given it up right then and there, and no one would have blamed you. But you stuck with it, even with what you've lost, all three of you."  
  
"So this is only for today?" Piper asked sadly.  
  
"I'm afraid so. I have to go back at midnight and all the snow will be melted by morning."  
  
Piper glanced over at Paige and caught the disappointed look that crossed her face for a quick moment. At first, she couldn't understand why Paige was upset, but suddenly it hit her. "Oh, Paige, your wish hasn't come true!"  
  
"It's nothing," Paige shrugged, trying to smile. "Forget it."  
  
"It's not nothing, Paige," Prue said, a mischievous smile forming on her lips. "But I have one more surprise. I brought a couple people with me."  
  
Paige followed Prue's gaze just as her mother and father stepped into the room. Paige's face broke into a wide smile as she ran towards them, jumping into her father's arms. "Oh, God," she cried, squeezing tightly. "This is real, right?"  
  
"Yes, sweetie, it is," her mother said softly. Paige let her father go and then wrapped her arms around her mother just as tightly. She hugged Paige back, then held her at arm's length, looking her over. "Let me take a look at you." She reached out and twirled a lock of Paige's short red hair around her finger. "What did you do to your hair?"  
  
Paige giggled, self-consciously tugging her fingers through a couple of tangles in her hair. "I had a little potion accident, but then I decided to keep it like this. You like it?"  
  
"I do!" she exclaimed, smiling. "You look beautiful."  
  
Piper watched the Matthews family reunion with a proud smile. She was so happy that Paige got what she wanted. She was even happier for Paige than she was for herself. They had all had rough lives, but in a way, Paige had it the hardest. Piper couldn't even imagine what Paige had been through, from losing her parents so suddenly in an accident she was in as well to just as suddenly finding both her birth family and her bloodright. Plus, she and Phoebe hadn't really been all that fair to her, both at first and even to some extent now. She wasn't sure what that said about her and Phoebe, but the fact that Paige stuck with them through it all said a lot about her. Paige deserved a little bit of happiness and Piper was glad that she was finally able to get it.  
  
She sidled up next to Prue and rested her head on her sister's shoulder. "This is amazing. This is honestly the best Christmas ever." She then lifted her head and looked Prue in the eye. "Are you sure They won't let you stay? I mean, imagine how strong we would be with the Power of Four."  
  
"Piper," Prue said gently. She led Piper to the couch, sat her down sideways, then sat down herself, facing her sister. "I'm not here to stay. I'm not meant to stay. It's not my time here anymore. It took me a while to realize that, but it's true. It's time for you to be with Phoebe, Paige, Leo, and your daughter."  
  
Piper put her hand over her stomach as her gaze fell to the floor. "Prue, it's not fair."  
  
"You're right, it's not." She reached out and lifted Piper's chin with her finger so that she could look her sister in the eye. "But you know how you were talking with Paige earlier about the sting going away? It'll never get any easier if you can't accept that I don't belong here anymore."  
  
Piper felt her eyes begin to tear up as she reached over and wrapped Prue in a tight hug. "I can't let you go, I just can't."  
  
"Sweetie, you have to," Prue said softly, stroking her sister's hair. "It's hard, I know, but it's not doing you any good."  
  
"Then why did They send you back to me if They're only going to take you away again?"  
  
"Oh, honey, I was afraid it was going to be too soon for this." She let Piper go and put her hands on her shoulders, forcing her to meet her eyes. "I'm here to help you get a little closure. Everything happened so fast and we never got a chance to say goodbye." She smiled and wiped Piper's tears away with her thumbs. "That fight we had? Forgiven and forgotten. It was forgiven and forgotten the night we had it. I just wish I had a chance to tell you."  
  
"I wish I had apologized that night," she cried, sniffling. "I didn't mean it, any of it." It was starting to come back to her. She still didn't quite remember how it got started, but she remembered calling Prue controlling and overbearing. She was pretty sure she then called her crazy or something equivalent to that, and that was what had hurt Prue the most.  
  
"I know you didn't," Prue said gently. "And like I said, forgiven and forgotten."  
  
Piper nodded, finally starting to calm down. After a moment, she smiled through what tears she had left. "Come on. We have all day and I want to make the most of it."  
  
**********  
  
Piper glanced up at the clock. Quarter of twelve, she thought sadly. The day had gone by so fast. Phoebe had made a few snow angels and wanted to take pictures of them and the snow in general. Once the camera was out, it didn't get put back. Pictures were taken of everyone and everything, from Paige and her parents in front of the tree to one of Prue and Piper that they had taken themselves to one of the four sisters. Piper just hoped that they would all come out. She was already planning to take them someplace in the suburbs to get them developed. That way, if she didn't know anyone, she wouldn't have to explain how people who were supposed to be dead were in her Christmas photos.  
  
Piper and Phoebe had spent much of the day with Prue while Paige spent much of the day with her parents. They had all gotten together for dinner and for a couple hours afterward, but mostly, they had been apart. Piper had wanted to give Paige her space, but she hadn't wanted to make it seem like they were leaving her out. This whole blended family thing isn't easy, she thought, glancing up at the clock again.  
  
"Piper, watching the clock isn't going to make time go by any slower," Prue whispered gently.  
  
"I know," she sighed. "I just don't want to say goodbye."  
  
"I don't, either," Paige murmured. She was nestled on the couch between her parents, her head resting on her father's shoulder. She closed her eyes and snuggled a little closer to him, making herself more comfortable.  
  
"Are you tired, honey?" her mother asked.  
  
Paige nodded, opening her eyes, and threw a teasing, accusing glare in Piper's direction. "'Cause they got me up at like, four in the morning."  
  
"It wasn't four!" Piper exclaimed, grinning. "It was seven. We didn't even get up at four when we were little."  
  
"Four, seven. At that point, it's all the same," she grumbled.  
  
Her mother giggled, brushing her daughter's hair out of her face. "She's not exactly a morning person, is she?"  
  
"I never was," Paige said, sitting up straight. She rubbed her eyes and stretched her legs out in front of her. "But you love me anyway."  
  
Piper smiled and looked up at the clock again. Two more minutes. "Do you guys really have to go?"  
  
"Yeah, honey, we do," Prue said, standing up. Everyone else stood as well and Prue crossed the room to stand next to Paige's parents. "Take care of each other."  
  
"Wait!" Piper cried. She rushed forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Prue's neck one final time. She heard Paige run up to her parents, and a moment later, she felt Phoebe join her and Prue's embrace. As Piper pulled away, she was surprised to see Prue crying. "I'm so sorry, Prue," she said, sniffling. "I just couldn't--"  
  
"It's okay," Prue assured her as she wiped her eyes. "That's the danger of being human, even for a day--human emotions." She gave both her sisters one last kiss on the forehead, then stepped back as the clock began striking midnight. Paige's parents also stepped back, joining Prue. "Goodbye, guys," Prue said with a gentle smile. "Be good to each other."  
  
Piper closed her eyes, not wanting to watch Prue go. There was a soft but quick flash of light and when Piper finally opened her eyes, Prue and Paige's parents were gone. Her shoulders slumped as she turned to Paige and Phoebe, who both had tears in their eyes as well. "I'm, uh, I'm going to go sit in the sunroom."  
  
"You want to be alone?" Paige asked her softly.  
  
"Just for a little bit." She walked from the parlor into the sunroom and sat down in one of the wicker chairs. Her eyes welled with tears as she pulled her knees up to her chest. She gazed out the window, getting one last look at the snow. It was already starting to melt; she could hear it falling from the roof. Sighing, she buried her face in her knees. She was a little conflicted. On the one hand, she was so happy that she had gotten to see Prue again, but on the other hand, it was like she was back to square one. She missed Prue all over again, and in some ways, it was worse than before. There was something about getting only a small glimpse of something you wanted that made losing it so much harder.  
  
She had no idea how long she sat lost in thought. She gave a start when she heard someone call her name. Looking up, she saw Phoebe standing in the doorway. "What?"  
  
"I'm going upstairs. It's almost one."  
  
"Okay," Piper shrugged.  
  
"I just want to make sure you're okay before I go to bed," she said a little uncomfortably. "Because it's kind of like we lost her all over again."  
  
"I'm fine," Piper said with a smile. She just hoped that Phoebe couldn't see through it.  
  
Phoebe just nodded. "Oh, Paige conked out in front of the TV. Do you want me to--"  
  
Piper shook her head. "Nah. I'll wake her up before I go upstairs."  
  
"Okay." Phoebe gave her sister a kind smile. "Night, Piper. I'm here for you if you need to talk or anything."  
  
I know. Thanks. Night, Phoebe." She sadly watched Phoebe disappear into the shadows of the stairwell. Sighing again, she leaned her head back against the chair. Why couldn't you let her stay? she thought angrily. I need her and you won't let her stay with me. Maybe her grandmother was right. Maybe it was better if they didn't see each other. At least then she wouldn't feel like any progress and had made in the past year was completely gone forever.  
  
She sniffled and stood up. Her eyes were burning from crying, and it was making her tired. She walked into the parlor to find Paige fast asleep on the couch. The TV was on and the remote was still in Paige's hand. Piper called her name, but she didn't even flinch. Piper shook her head, smiling, slid the remote out of her hand, and turned off the TV. At the interruption of the sound, Paige started, her eyes opening slowly. "Hey, I was watching that."  
  
"The only thing you were watching was the backs of your eyelids," Piper teased as she set the remote on the endtable.  
  
Paige yawned and sat up. "I was awake."  
  
"Paige, you were snoring," she said gently. "Come on, let's get you upstairs."  
  
As Piper tugged Paige's hand to get her up, she used her free hand to rub her eyes. "I do not snore."  
  
"And I am so not getting into this argument at one in the morning," Piper giggled. "Come on."  
  
She helped Paige up the stairs, walking her to her room, and got her into bed. Paige closed her eyes the second her head hit the pillow and after Piper straightened the blankets around her shoulders, she began tiptoeing quietly to the door.  
  
"Piper?"  
  
She stopped short and turned around. Paige had propped herself up on her elbow, looking at Piper intently. "What?"  
  
"Christmas is about miracles and what happened today was a miracle. I know it's hard, but try not to lose sight of that."  
  
After a moment, Piper smiled, realizing what Paige was saying. "I won't, I promise. You go back to sleep now."  
  
Paige nodded and laid back down, snuggling under the covers. "Night, Piper," she murmured.  
  
"Night, Paige," she whispered back. She left the room, quietly pulling the door closed behind her. As she walked back to her own room, she thought about what Paige had said. Her point was basically that instead of focusing on the fact that Prue had left again, she should be focusing on the fact that she had come back in the first place. She had made an offhand Christmas wish, one she thought wasn't even possible, and she got it. And if that weren't miraculous enough, she got more than what she wished for. She had only wished for another moment with her sisters, and she got a little more than sixteen hours.  
  
As she climbed into bed, she was filled with a sense of peace. Well, that's what miracles are supposed to do, right? she thought. Provide peace? She smiled, nestling herself under the covers. "Merry Christmas," she said, her eyes raised heavenward. She switched off her light, realizing that even though the Christmas had been quite an emotional roller coaster for her, she wouldn't trade it for anything else. 


End file.
